Rail-connector



(No Model.)

J. BRYAN.

' RAIL CONNECTOR.

Patented Jafl. 25, 1898.

8 FIGS.

WITNESSES: i INF/ N70 9%Z 2 9 mm ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT @rrrcn.

JAMES BRYAN, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAIL-CONNECTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 597,949, dated January 25, 1898.

Application filed June 12, 1897. Serial No. 640,422. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it TH/(LZ/ concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES BRYAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Penn sylvania, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Gonnectors, of which improvements the following is a specification.

The invention described herein relates to certain improvements in that class or kind of devices known as bond-connectors and employed for electrically connecting the adjacent ends of the rails of atrack where such rails are employed as a main-feed or return conductor.

The invention has for its object a construction of connector having an electrical carrying capacity approximately equal to the rail itself and which will permit of the longitudinal movement of the rails due to expansion and contraction.

In general terms the invention consists in the construction and combination substantially as more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure, l is a side elevation of portions of adjacent rails having myimproved connector applied thereto. Fig. 2 is asectional elevation, the plane of section being indicated by the line II II, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view on an enlarged scale, the plane of section being indicated by the line III III, Fig. 1. Figs. 4 and 5 are edge and side elevations, respectively, of the connecting-plates. Fig. 6 shows the washer in plan and section, and Fig. 7 is a sectional view illustrating a modified form of bondconnector.

In the practice of my invention I provide a suitable connector, which consists of aseries of thin plates 1, having their ends embedded in and electrically connected to the metallic blocks 2. As clearly shown in Fig. 3, the thin plates 1 have their middle portions bent or formed in a loop, while their end portions project from the U-shaped or looped central portion in opposite directions. These plates are provided with concavo-convex ribs a, which are preferably formed by swaging the plates transversely, and these ribs are located,

by preference, on opposite sides of the looped middle portion and serve to hold the plates a predetermined distance apart, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, the convex or raised portion of the ribs in one plate projecting into the concavity or recess of the next plate. The plates having been arranged together in the manner shown, the ends thereof are placed in a suitable mold, and the blocks 2 are formed by casting metal in suitable matrices, into which the ends of the plates 1 project. The metal forming these clamping-plates will flow between and around the connecting-plates 1, thereby firmly binding the whole into an integral structure. The ribs Ct, in addition to holding the connecting-plates apart, perform the further function of preventing the metal of the blocks from flowing beyond the point where the ribs are formed and so connecting adjacent plates to one another outside of the clamping-plates.

It is preferred, in order to insure a more intimate union between the connecting-plates and the clamping-blocks, to form holes I) through the connecting-plates where they are embedded in the metal of the blocks, and thereby permit of the ready flow of the metal through and between the plates. Two connectors thus constructed are applied, by preference, to opposite sides of the adjacent ends of rails, the clamping-blocks being secured in position by bolts 3, passing through the clamping-blocks and the webs of the rails. It is preferred, in order to secure a more intimate union between the clamping-blocks and the webs of the rails, to interpose washers 4:, which are corrugated, as shown, and

adapted to be flattened and compressed in drawing the clamping-plates against the rails. If preferred, the inner faces of the clampingplates may be formed with ribs which will flatten in securing the clamps in position, as shown in Fig. 7.

As shown in Fig. 7, the clamping-blocks may be formed by a series of thin plates 2, arranged alternately with the connectingplates, said intercalatin g plates being sweated together in a manner well known in the art.

By the employment of a number of thin plates to form the connector, whose ends are embedded in or secured in electrical connec tion withthe clamping-blocks, the connectors will have an electrical carrying capacity; equal or approximately equal to that of the rails themselves. By forming a loop or bend in the connectors provision is made for the movement of the adjacent ends of rails toward and from each other without disturbing or in any way injuring the efficiency of the connector.

1 claim herein as my invention- 1. A bond-connector for rails having in combination a'series of metal plates-arranged approximately parallel therewith, but separated from each other, and metal blocks adapted to be secured to the rails, a portion of the metal of the blocks intercalating'with the metal plates, thereby securing automatic electrical connection between each plate and the: blocks, substantiall'yas set forth. i

2. A bond-connector for rails having in combination metal blocks adapted to be secured to the rails and a series of thin metal plates provided.v with. concavo convex ribs adapted to-support" the plates in proper relation to each other, and having their encls emibedcled in the metal blocks, substantially as DARWIN S. WoLcorT, F. E. GAHITHER; 

